Railroads, Ducks, Fish and Gorillas

People often stop me and comment about the articles that I post here and I'm pleased that there are some people who enjoy reading them. The stories have always been a pleasure to write and have given me something to do from time to time. Occasionally I will get some criticism about my writing and I appreciate that as well. I'm just an amateur writer and I'm sure that I have a lot to learn.

Recently, I was rather harshly chastised by an old friend who declared that I was making other grandpas look bad. I sure hope I don't cause a grandpa revolt or a Papaw uprising that results in a rope necktie party with me as the sole invitee. Most grandpas are just gentle giants to their grandchildren, but I now have the impression that some of this particular species, when sufficiently provoked, can be extremely dangerous animals. Regardless, I shall not let this groundswell of grumpy and gloomy grandpas govern the efforts of this geriatric journalist.

For several weeks Aden and I had been planning a trip to Cincinnati and we finally made it. I'm really not sure who had the best time; I'll probably just call it a tie. We left this past Thursday afternoon when I got off from work. Aden fell asleep early on the drive and woke up around the time we got to I-275. He was, as always, ready to do something. After working all day and driving for three hours, I was ready to take a nap.

Our hotel was actually in Newport, less than a mile from Newport on the Levee. It was a good location that was easy to get in and out of for the duration of the trip. I brought a few games, coloring books and puzzles to pass the time during the evenings until he was ready to go to sleep. That first night we went through just about everything that I had brought and made a trip to McDonalds for some fries and burgers. I slept very well.

On Friday morning we went to the Newport Aquarium. This is by far the best time to go. Kids are back in school and it was a weekday, so we traveled through the aquarium with ease. The glass tunnels under the million gallon tank provides an excellent opportunity to walk right under the swimming sharks, turtles, stingrays and scores of various species of fish. There are also a few glass floors where you can walk over several different aquatic environments which include live crocodiles, alligators and snakes. We stayed for a little over four hours and then went back to the hotel for a break. I dozed off for about 30 minutes while Aden watched Sponge Bob Square Pants.

When we got to the aquarium that morning, we were about an hour early so we took a walk up to the Purple People Bridge. It is a bridge that is painted purple and is solely for pedestrian traffic across the Ohio River. We walked out to the middle of the bridge (and ran some too), took some pictures and walked back. We were the only people on the bridge. That's the great thing about getting up early in the morning; you see and do things that you would never see or do otherwise. Sleeping in was not on our agenda.

On Friday afternoon, we drove north on I-75 to exit 22, which is about a 25 minute drive. Right off of this exit is a place called EnterTrainMent Junction, which houses the world's largest display of interactive model trains. There are over 90 trains running through 8000 square feet of a very detailed miniature landscape. I must say that this place is truly incredible. It provides a nice history of the railroads in the United States from the early steam engines to our modern day locomotives. They have utilized an extreme amount of detail in every mine run, town, city, lake, rail yard, bridge, tunnel and the surrounding countryside. If you like railroads at all, this is the place to visit. In addition to this, there was a Halloween maze in another wing of the building which Aden and I thoroughly enjoyed. There were buckets of candy along the way through the maze and they provided us with a bag to fill as we pleased. We bagged a lot of candy.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Cincy Zoo and I timed our arrival precisely as it opened. It was a little chilly at first so we spent some extra time at some of the indoor displays and in the gift shop. We rode the train around the zoo and visited with just about every animal in a little over 4 hours. We were disappointed that the rhinoceros and the cheetahs weren't out for us to see, but overall it is a nice zoo. Be prepared to walk a lot of hills in this zoo, it will give you a good workout. And don't miss the gorillas; they have one of the biggest gorillas I have ever seen. Aden said he had a big butt.

After lunch we hiked back down to Newport on the Levee and took another trip through the aquarium. On this trip, I let Aden spend about an hour and a half in the Frog Bog, which has one of those maze like playgrounds for children to climb, crawl and slide through until they are totally worn out. Aden played in that jungle gym for over an hour but never wore out, while Poppy just rested on the bench and held onto his shoes and jacket. Finally, I convinced him that we still had some other things to see and that we could go through the glass tunnels again. I'm not sure what amazed him more, the huge loggerhead turtle, the sharks or the fantastic display of jellyfishes. He did not like walking on the glass floors above the crocodiles.

In a previous article on a trip to the Indy Zoo, I ranted about the use of strollers so I won't say too much here except for the fact that on this Saturday at the aquarium, the place was full of strollers. To me, if kids are too young to walk or just too lazy to walk, leave them at home. Strollers should only be allowed in these crowded public places when a medical condition precludes a kid from walking. Come on parents; get your kids out of those strollers.

After the aquarium, at 4pm on Saturday, we rode The Ducks. The Ducks are actually World War II amphibious vehicles, which were designated as DUKW (so soldiers called them Ducks), which came from the terminology used by the manufacturer; the D indicated a 1942 design, the U meant it was a utility vehicle, the K designated it as all-wheel drive and the W indicated something else that I cannot remember (maybe it Waddled like a duck). The Ducks take you on a tour of downtown Cincy and also drive right into the Ohio River for a short swimming tour of both banks. Shortly after we entered the water our ship Captain said he was tired and asked for relief, so Aden got to sit in the Captain's seat and steer the Duck. This was the only time during the week that I didn't have my camera with me. What a klutz.

On Friday and Saturday nights, we went out to eat, played numerous games of Candyland, worked countless puzzles and colored more pictures than I could count. When we left the zoo, I bought Aden a purple monkey from the gift shop. It was one of those that had Velcro on its' hands and feet and he had a blast flinging that thing around the room Saturday night. When he got the monkey I asked him what his monkey's name was and he said, "Uncle Jay". I didn't waste a minute in calling his Uncle Jay on the phone to tell him that he now had a stuffed monkey named after him. Jay was thrilled.

On Sunday morning I got everything packed while Aden slept in and then we headed north again on I-75 to exit 29. We were headed out to take a ride on the Pumpkin Patch Express, which was a 45 minute trip on the LM&M Railroad out in the country to a farm. At the farm we picked a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, got lost in a corn maze and petted some animals. After eating a pumpkin cookie and fetching a gourd and another pumpkin, we rode the train back to the station to retrieve our car. As we left Ohio and headed home, Aden managed to stay awake for about 15 minutes and then slept until we got to Bedford. We talked the rest of the way home about our weekend in Cincy. He can tell some pretty good stories.

Now I'm working on the agenda for our next trip. Get with it grandpas, there's a lot of fun to be had out there.